Luxendarc Godfathers
by kabukimono
Summary: The Crystal Crew face their hardest challenge yet: BABYSITTING. After finding an abandoned child on the Eschalot, the Luxendarc Heroes know they have to save him too! Tiz is the eager to meddle type, after all. (Genfic, but hints at Tiznes)
1. Chapter 1

This is supposed to be gen, but there's hints of Tiz/Agnès being adorable dorks with each other and likely some slight Rindea at one point too. It's meant to take place in later chapter 2, so there will eventually maybe be spoilers up to that point.

Art by orchidias on tumblr.

* * *

"What… is that." Ringabel asks flatly, leaning over the bundle of blankets the Wind Vestal is holding in her arms. It is very small and loud, squishy and red. Sort of like a goblin, he supposes. A real miniature monster.

Edea kicks him. He starts, unaware he'd been speaking aloud.

"It's a _baby_, what does it look like?!" She rolls her eyes, and kneels down next to Agnès. "Um, what are we going to do with a baby?"

The Vestal shakes her head, her cheeks red and eyes wide. "I do not know… I've never seen a human so small." Much less held one. But the baby had been heard screaming upon their return to the Eschalot and she'd been so worried it was injured that she'd picked it up without thinking. Her presence seemed to calm it somewhat, but not enough.

"Where did it come from? It's certainly not one of _mine_." Ringabel hopes, at least. Loss of memory, after all.

Tiz has finished rummaging through the little straw basket the baby had been settled into, that still contains an abundance of extra blankets and clothes and hopefully baby food. He picks up a letter and opens it.

"Dear Wind Vestal," he reads slowly. "I can no longer care for my child. Please take care of him. His name is Leon. Signed, a Sad Mother."

Silence falls over the group.

"Let me see that," Ringabel takes the letter from Tiz and examines it, then shakes the paper and envelope as though expecting more to fall out. When nothing does, he sighs.

"We can't care for a baby!" Airy says, hovering just out of reach of the child's grasping hands. "We have to awaken the crystals! It's too dangerous for him."

Airy is right about that, at least.

"We'll have to go to Ancheim and drop him off there. He came from Ancheim, right?" Edea asks, poking a finger and smiling as the baby tried to catch it.

"No…" Ringabel muses out loud, rummaging through the child's meager belongings for more hints of his origin. "These appear to be from Florem." Tiz joins him, sorting out the blankets and extra clothes that the other man is tossing about. He watches Ringabel more than the articles in his hands.

"From _Florem_?!" Edea turns to watch them, Leon's tiny hand closing around her finger. "How on earth did his mother get him here?"

"Though the Miasma Woods, I imagine. She must have been desperate." Ringabel's voice is low, and he's moving on a sort of auto-pilot, body reacting on its own. He feels sick, and isn't certain why, his hands starting to shake. Thankful that his back is to the girls, he hunches over and clenches his jaw tight.

The baby takes that moment to begin fussing again, his loud wails causing them all to jump.

"... What do we do?" Agnès asks, trying to bounce him gently in her arms. It's not very effective.

"Here, I'll take him." Tiz offers. Reluctantly, he moves away from Ringabel to hoist the infant in his arms, tucking the baby gently against his chest and supporting his head. He swallows as he does so. He'd been a child when Til had been born, he thinks with a pang in his chest, but he'd had the opportunity to hold the newborns of his neighbors since then.

Besides, babies of all species were tiny and delicate, even if baby humans were just a little less fluffy. He smiles down at the child, hesitantly, not even minding that the baby can't smile back (he's too young, after all).

Edea and Agnès are both smiling at him when he looks up. "You're a natural at this, Tiz!" Edea praises him, clapping her hands together. He was going to be a great father when he had kids of his own one day, she figured.

Agnès nods her agreement, a flush spreading across her cheeks.

Tiz blushes. "No… it's just… I've had practice," he mumbles, and rocks a little on his feet.

Airy circles his head. "So…? What are we going to do with him now? Where do we take him?"

"We should take him back to his mother," Ringabel says, slowly packing Leon's things back into his basket. His voice is thick. "She's made a mistake, that's all there is to it. Even if she won't take him, I'm certain we can find someone in Florem who will care properly for him."

"But Ancheim is closer!" Airy argues. "It'll take days to go back to Florem and -"

"No," The older boy is firm on this, his shoulders tense as he smooths an extra blanket over the piles in the basket. "Children belong with their mothers."

There's really no good way to answer that. They stand awkwardly for a moment before Leon saves the day, crying out again. Tiz looks down at him, notices him rooting and opening his mouth and. "Oh." He says, feeling dumb. "He's hungry."

"Hungry?" Agnès clasps her hands in front of her. "But what do babies eat?" She truly has no idea.

"Milk, mostly." Tiz explains. "When they're really young like this… but any baby can eat a watered-down and mushy version of what their parents eat." Usually if a lamb was rejected by its mother, they could find a surrogate, or give the baby lots of grainy mush. Milk was best, but they didn't really have any on hand.

"You're such a farmer, Tiz!" Edea rolls her eyes, but appreciates his knowledge. All she knows is that really small babies drink milk from their mothers, and bigger babies eat disgusting mush they're not supposed to put sugar into. "Neither Agnès or I have milk." She flushes as she says that, ignoring the way that Agnès's head whips toward her, her eyes wide. "So we just make some kinda mush for him?"

"Yes… out of vegetables, I'd say. Maybe beets?" Meat might be a little too intense for Leon's system, he figures. But vegetables should be okay.

"Beets it is!" Edea decides. They should still have a stockpile of food graciously provided by Ancheim, right? "I'll go cook it up, then!" She declares.

Tiz follows her, sticking a finger into Leon's mouth to let the baby suckle on something. "Don't add any sugar to it, Edea!" He warns as the door to the hold swings shut behind them.

Ringabel is still smoothing out the child's blue baby blankets, his expression unreadable. Agnès kneels beside him. "Ringabel?" She asks.

He looks up at the sound of his name, and smiles at the Vestal, which doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Yes, Agnès."

"Are you…" She hesitates, not sure what to ask.

He cuts her off with a shake of his head. "It's nothing." He can't explain it anyway, the tightness in his chest, the throbbing behind his eyes. "But I really do feel we need to bring the child back to Florem. Even if we cannot find his mother, perhaps there's family who will take him." But he prays the child's mother made a mistake in a moment of weakness and will accept her baby back.

Agnès sighs. She desperately wants to continue awakening the Crystals, and truly does not have the time to spare for this. But she cannot bring herself to abandon a baby who has already been left behind once. What sort of Crystal Vestal refuses to guide the smallest of her followers? She nods. "I too, believe that to be for the best."

Airy protests. "Agnès…!"

The Vestal shakes her head. "I cannot in good conscience take the child elsewhere. Ringabel is right. We can find his family."

Ringabel tries to hide the little smirk that spreads across his face as the fairy pouts. "Now, now Airy. It's either this or we bring the little guy with us. I'm sure Agnès wouldn't mind getting some practice.

"Ringabel!" Even Agnès understands the implication behind his words. "That is unacceptable!" Were it not unladylike, Ringabel is sure she'd slap him.

Laughing now, he stands, offering a hand to her. "Well, let's go and make sure Edea doesn't burn down the kitchen." Tiz was with her, of course, but the Shepherd likely had his hands full with their latest charge. To his relief, she took his hand with no further comments, and he led the way to the lower deck, Airy hovering just behind.


	2. Chapter 2

Boil the beets, then mash them up, then boil them some more. Add some water. It needs to be more liquid than solid. Tiz's explanation is simple, but is taking so long…! Edea groans, hunching over one of the stoves in the mess-deck aboard the Eschalot. The longer he waits, the more that Leon cries, and it's really beginning to get on her nerves. Human baby cries are so annoying! Why couldn't he have been a puppy or a kitten?

She mashes the beets down angrily with a fork as she mixes the water in, glancing over her shoulder as she does so.

The other three are seated at a small table, passing the baby between them. He stops crying for a few moments every time he's given to someone new, as though hopeful _this_ new person will feed him, but when it becomes apparent that _this_ person won't, his wails start again. It'd be kind of cute if his crying wasn't so piercing.

Ringabel cringes every time it's his turn to hold the baby, his large hands awkward and fumbling as he tries to both support Leon's head and hold him, though the baby ends up seated more on the table than on Ringabel's arms. He _does_ seem to be trying at least, cooing quietly at the baby in an attempt to comfort, but Edea rolls her eyes at him all the same as Ringabel quickly passes the screaming infant on to Agnès once he starts up again.

Agnès is just as awkward as Ringabel but decidedly more gentle, tucking the baby against her shoulder and holding his head in her hand. She's removed her gloves so that the fabric doesn't disturb his soft baby skin, and the child seems to have taken to her most of all, pressing his wet face into her shoulder as she bounces him very carefully. The Wind Vestal is so absorbed with comforting the baby that she doesn't see the daft little smile that crosses Tiz's face each time he watches.

And then when Leon gets enough of being bounced and not being fed, it's off to Tiz he goes, who sticks his little finger in the baby's mouth, an act which seems to mollify him the most. Tiz really does look good with a baby, Edea thinks. Lucky Agnès.

"You almost finished there?" Tiz calls over to her as Leon gnaws angrily at his pinkie.

Oh. Oh right. Edea turns back to the simmering pot. "Almost finished!" She says, mashing some more. They seem alright to her, but Tiz was very specific about them being as soft as possible. The baby didn't have teeth to chew with, after all. He was being awfully protective of some kid he just met, she thinks with a grumble. Perhaps that was just Tiz for you.

The baby does another pass around the table by the time Edea's done with the mush. It looks gross in her opinion, but she scoops it up into a little bowl anyway and brings it back to the group, holding a spoon in her other hand.

"Okay… who's doing this?" She asks. "I cooked, someone else gets to feed him."

"I don't think I should be the one to feed him," Ringabel says quickly. "Perhaps someone with a more womanly touch." He tucks his hands under the table, just in case Edea tries to pass anything to him anyway.

Agnès hesitates. "I am not certain how babies are fed." He seems too small to do it himself, doesn't he?

Edea shrugs. "Don't look at me! All I know about feeding kids is airships nyoom nyooming into mouths and that babies like to spit up. All the time."

Tiz is a patient person, but he has his limits. Rolling his eyes ever so lightly, he very gently places the baby in Agnès's arms. "If you hold him, I'll feed him… I've only seen this done with larger babies who can already sit up. He needs some support and I don't think I can do this on my own."

That makes sense, Edea thinks, as Tiz takes the bowl and spoon from her. Leon's still a little too small to sit up on his own and he leans with his back against Agnès, squirming and fussing and throwing his fists around, while the Vestal tries to steady him in her arms. He's gonna be a good fighter when he grows up, Edea ponders on...

Especially when his fist catches the beet covered spoon in Tiz's hand, sending it crashing to the floor.

The group goes quiet. "Edea…" Tiz says.

"I'll get another," she offers, and hurries to do so.

It turns out, feeding angry, hungry babies is _hard_. Edea fetches two more spoons before Tiz gives up and scoops some of the warm mash onto his finger, tapping it against the baby's lower lip. That's a little more appealing than a cold metal spoon it seems, though Leon spits the beets out as soon as he tastes and screams even harder. Agnès looks incredibly uncomfortable as red mash smears on her dress, but she keeps a hold on the child as gentle as it is firm.

Poor little guy, Edea thinks unhappily, her hands over her ears. Poor _us_.

Ringabel has since retreated back on deck, claiming that he wants to pack up the child's things and bring it down… but has yet to return. Airy, surprisingly, had gone with him for "supervision". Edea's wondering if she can get away with the same claim, since Ringabel is obviously a weakling that needs help carrying things, when Tiz finally manages to pop a bit of the mash into the baby's mouth, and the baby manages to actually swallow.

Leon, that stupid cutie that he is, looks surprised. Then pleased, and he opens his mouth for more.

The remaining adults sag in relief, and Tiz wastes no time shoveling more food in the kid's mouth.

"Wow, he's really set of lungs on him." Edea says sometime later as the pile of mash in the bowl gets smaller and smaller as the baby boy eats, gurgling happily through swallows.

"Are… all children this loud?" Agnès looks absolutely horrified. She's been around children before, certainly, but her exposure to babies this small has been minimal! She's certain she was never so loud as a child.

"He can't help it," Tiz tries to defend the child as he feeds him a little more. "He can't talk, and he can't express himself any other way through but through crying. I know it's hard, but we just have to take care of him until we find his mother, remember?" However long that would be. He doesn't want to think about that.

"Mm, you're right Papa Tiz!" Edea cheers as the baby quiets the more he's fed.

Tiz looks up at her, eyes wide. "Don't call me that." He frowns. "I'm not his father. I'm not yours, either."

She reaches over to pinch his cheek, causing him to grimace. "I didn't say you were~" She winks, and he just turns red, tucking his head down to his chest and quietly going back to feeding the little thing. It doesn't help when Agnès giggles.

They look almost like a family, Edea thinks with a soft smile as she props her chin on her hand. Tiz is so nice and gentle, and Agnès is so patient. If only the baby didn't have blond hair, he could certainly pass for theirs. She giggles, imagining how Crystalists might take the Wind Vestal having a baby of her own.

Ringabel pokes his head into the room, Airy poking out underneath. "… It seems much more quiet in here." He observes cautiously.

Edea turns and scowls at him. "No thanks to _you_. I think that means it's your turn to clean up and cook dinner for us." She pokes her thumb at the pile of dishes sitting in the empty basin, and the very sad pile of vegetables left over from when she and Tiz had been deciding on what to feed their charge.

He sighs, disappears for a moment, and then enters the room properly this time, running a hand through the back of his hair. "I suppose I could step in… after all, we're already subjecting the poor thing to _your_ cooking." He manages to dodge the spoon she throws at him, ducking as her aim goes wide.

"Just start cooking!" She yells. Leon isn't the only one hungry, after all.

Glancing back at the other three, she notices that Leon, his tummy full, is leaning back against Agnès's chest, his eyes closing quickly. Probably tired himself out. Tiz keeps a finger against the baby's lips until he stops moving them, then wipes it carefully on the edge of a napkin. "I think he's done… I can take him now, Agnès." He sets the bowl aside and reaches his hands out.

Instead, the Vestal turns the baby so that his face is cushioned against her chest, cradling him gently with her hands and holding him close. "No…" She says, and her face is pink. "I would not want to disturb him by moving him too much. He's fine here." She insists, and hunches over a little, as if to hide the baby and her face with her long hair.

Tiz takes a deep breath, watching her. "Okay. If you're sure…" He picks up one of the blankets Leon had been swaddled in, and now carefully tucks it around the baby, snatching his hands away when they get too close to Agnès's… person. "I'll take him if you get tired." He mumbles.

"Oh, how are you going to eat, Agnès?" Edea asks, enjoying the awkward atmosphere between her two friends. "Tiz will feed you, won't you Tiz?"

"Edea!" Tiz turns on her, scowling. "Agnès doesn't need me to feed her! She's an adult, she can feed herself."

Agnès titters nervously. "My hands are full, but I will figure something out when it's ready to eat."

"It will be ready soon," Ringabel promises from over near the stove. "I'll have it ready in … what's that phrase, two shakes of a lamb's tail?" Something bubbles ominously.

Tiz breathes deeply again before answering. "Alright Ringabel, your time's up." At the other boy's protests, claiming that Tiz wasn't counting correctly, the Shepherd stands up to return the bowl of mash and the dirty utensils, and joins Ringabel at the stove, picking up a knife to help.

Edea scoots closer to Agnès. "It's a good thing we have Tiz," she says slyly, not missing the way that Agnès's eyes drift between the sleeping baby in her arms and the brunet now beginning to cook. "I don't know what we'd do without him!"

"Yes," Agnès breathes, and her hands are stroking the baby of the baby's head gently. Her back is very stiff, her posture unmoving, so as to disturb the baby as little as possible. "He is truly invaluable."

"Mmhm," Edea agrees."And don't you think this is great practice?"

"Yes…" Agnès breathes again, until she pauses and turns her head toward Edea, frowning. "Edea, really! You and Ringabel both are being completely…"

Edea cuts her off, wrinkling her nose. "Wait, Agnès… what's that smell?"

In Agnès's arms, the sleeping Leon wiggles, and then begins to cry again.


	3. Chapter 3

Edea collapses on her bunk in the room she shares with Agnès in what used to be a small barracks. "Ugh, today has been long." And gross, she thinks privately.

Tiz laughs nervously. "We'll sleep and then head out tomorrow." It was too late to head out now, it would be well after dark by the time they got back to the Miasma Forest and none of them want to cross that in the dark. He rocks on his feet, his arms full of a dozing baby. "You girls sure you want to take him?"

Agnès has changed from her usual dress to her modest nightgown already, and opens her arms up to take the child from him. "Yes, I'm sure." She's still firm on her decision. They all needed to sleep, Leon included, and while Tiz had volunteered to watch him that night, she'd been adamant that Tiz get some sleep as well. Edea isn't sure she appreciates the volunteering, but it's true that Tiz needs to get all the sleep he can.

He sighs. "I told you Agnès, I would be fine-"

"No. Give him to me." She frowns at him. "You sleep."

Tiz gives in and carefully moves the baby over into Agnès's arms. Standing a little too close to her to do so, in Edea's opinion as she watches the two of them. He seems reluctant to part, stroking the top of Leon's hand gently, and his hand drifts up to Agnès's waist for a few moments before he notices it's there and tucks it under his other arm. Airy huffs slightly as she circles around them, having lost the argument to Agnès some time ago and still pouting.

"I am probably the best person to care for him tonight anyway," Agnès observes as she begins to settle down on her bed with him, Tiz hovering nervously overhead to tuck them both in.

"What do you mean?" Tiz's face is red.

"You and Ringabel both… tend to toss." It was a polite way to explain that both men had a tendency to thrash in the middle of the night. "And Edea… she's very lively at night." There's no polite way to describe Edea's sleeping habits, and Edea sticks her tongue out at the other girl.

"It was just that once!" Edea tries to defend herself.

Tiz smiles awkwardly at her, which makes her feel better at least. "Either way, I know you'll take good care of him. Agnès. But come and get me if you need anything."

"I will," Agnès says.

She won't, Edea knows. "We'll be fine, Tiz." The blonde tries to reassure the shepherd. He's such a worry-wart! She stands and starts to push him out of the room. "Now come on, come on! I know you're Papa Tiz and all, but Auntie Agnès and Auntie Edea have this taken care of!"

He still looks worried and unconvinced when she shuts the door in his face. Okay, that had been a little rude, but something tells Edea she should probably try to go to sleep as soon as possible.

"That wasn't necessary," Agnès says, disapproval heavy in her voice, quiet as it is.

"… I'll apologize to him tomorrow." Edea promises, throwing herself back onto her bunk and pulling the covers over. "Goodnight, Agnès. Goodnight, Leon."

"Goodnight, Edea."

Agnès doesn't fall asleep so quickly, though. After some time, Edea's quiet snores begin to fill the room, and the Vestal stays awake, curled up on her side with their sleeping charge beside her. Her hand is gently tucked around him to make sure he knows that she's there.

Children are _exhausting_, she thinks privately, thankful that any Vestalings she raises in the future will be older than this. Leon is a very cute baby, but he's tired her out and she's only known him for a few hours - she can only imagine how his mother feels!

Thinking of the woman who abandoned this child upsets her, and she chews on her bottom lip. Agnès knows nothing of parenthood, but her own parents are vague in her memories, two faceless forms that had loved and protected her until she was taken into the care of her Mother Vestal. Parents were supposed to love their children. That seems as natural as anything else in the world, such as the power of the Crystals over the world and the Vestal's devotion to them. To see something that contradicts her faith so blatantly is simply shocking. Perhaps the woman had no other choice but to abandon her child? Either way, Agnès wanted answers.

She lowers her head to the pillow and tucks the baby a little closer to her arm, watching him with sleepy, half-lidded eyes. Parents in Norende and Eternia kept their babies in the beds with them all the time, Tiz and Edea had reassured her, but he was so small, and she felt so very big… she would never forgive herself if something happened while he was in her care.

Still, the days events catch up with her, and she finds herself falling asleep… only to wake some short hours later by the quiet fussing noises of an unhappy child.

"What is it?" She asks him, alarmed. She glances up at Edea, but the other girl is still snoring.

Leon, of course, cannot answer her, but continues to fuss, throwing his little fists about.

Agnès picks him up and cradles him close. Tiz had warned them that the baby may wake during the night - they often did, apparently. He said he recalled that his little brother had woken them up often when he was still very small, and though his eyes had looked very bright, and his voice had been tight as he spoke about the memory, Agnès hadn't known what to say.

And now, she doesn't know what to and wonders briefly if this is how all parents feel when dealing with their first born. As Leon's fussing turns to hiccups turn to sobs, Agnès feels that she herself may begin to cry.

"Oh no, please…" She tries to hum a little tune that she remembers from her own small days, when the temple was so big and quiet, and she and Olivia would huddle close to the Mother Vestal. Tears prick her eyes harder than before, and she stumbles on the tune but continues on for his sake. The sound of her voice is gentle and soothing to the baby and he quiets, watching her with big brown eyes.

She brushes her fingers against his cheek and he opens his mouth, expecting to be fed. "I'm sorry," she tells him. "I am not your mother, but we…" They had mashed apples that Tiz had left with them, leftovers from their dessert. She slides out of bed to retrieve the small bowl, using Airy's flickering light as a sort of night-light, but once it's in her hands, she stops, unsure of how to juggle a baby and a bowl of apples in a bed.

"Midnight snack?" Edea asks from her bunk, and Agnès jumps with a squeak, whirling around as Edea stumbles to her feet. What was she doing awake?!

"N-No," Agnès tries to calm her racing heart as the other girl approaches. "It's for—"

"Yeah, I meant him. Babies, babies, babies… I'm never having my own." Edea grumbles, but she takes the bowl from Agnès. "Come on, lets go feed him."

Agnès had meant to protest, because she didn't need help with such a simple task, but Edea shoves her back toward her bunk, and she crawls back in to sit Leon up and feed him. It seems he likes apples more, for some reason (though Agnès can't blame him), or perhaps he's just tired, because he quietly gnaws and swallows what Agnès places against his mouth. It seems relatively easy as she slowly feeds him, dabbing at what drips out of his mouth with a hankie. Edea curls up on his other side, keeping the bowl of applemash close and steady for Agnès, so that the baby doesn't spill it as he kicks his chubby legs.

When the child finally seems satisfied, and Agnès feels a crick in her neck from leaning over so closely, she looks up to thank Edea for her help… and realizes that the other girl has fallen asleep again, mouth slack and drooling slightly. Agnès can't help but giggle at the sight, and tucks the blanket near her feet up and over Edea's waist.

She smiles down at the happy baby, who blinks at her with sleepy eyes. "Shall we sleep as well, then?" Though he's far too small to understand her, she likes to imagine that he smiles in return, and she tucks her hand around his little form, holding him close to her. She watches and waits until his eyes close, long eyelashes still on his cheeks, and it is only then that she lets herself sleep as well.

* * *

"Girls? You awake?" Ringabel knocks on the door to their room, but there's no answer. It's not like Agnès to sleep in, at least. Frowning slightly at the lack of response, but knowing they'd taken the baby to bed with them, he carefully opens the door and peeks in, ready to duck at a moment's notice should Edea throw something at him.

There's nothing thrown at his head this time, and he opens the door wider, looking around until he sees the forms huddled up on Agnès's bunk. That's cute.

Tiz pokes his head into the room as well as Ringabel quietly approaches, trying not to disturb the two sleeping women and… the not-sleeping baby, he discovers, when he leans over into the small space, holding onto the top bunk for support. Airy, buried under one of the blankets on top, doesn't even stir.

"Ahaha, two ladies all for yourself!" Ringabel whispers, his voice barely audible. This would be a very inopportune time to wake up Edea. She's right next to his torso, curled in on herself and drooling. "I knew I liked you." No need to be jealous of a baby, he thinks, carefully worming his free hand under Leon's small form and pulling him up from between the two girls in one movement and against his chest in one moment. Agnès shifts somewhat in her sleep, frowning, but does not wake.

"They're still asleep?" Tiz asks as Ringabel quietly shuts the door behind him, Leon cradled to his chest. The baby's alright, he supposes, when he's not crying and being messy, but Ringabel quickly gives him over to the other boy all the same.

"Yes. They seem tired. I can't possibly imagine why." Ringabel shrugs.

"Hmm…" Tiz glances down at Leon.

"Well, that's just fine, isn't it?" Ringabel drapes an arm around Tiz's shoulder and ruffles what little exists of the baby's blond hair. "Let the girls sleep in. You, Leon, and I will enjoy some guy time."

Leon gurgles.

"See, he agrees with me as well!"

"I… think that's just gas."


	4. Chapter 4

Contains spoilers (if you squint) for Ringabel's backstory as well as **Chapter 2**. This fic is not actually meant to be shippy! But it contains some tinges of Tiznes and Rindea, especially in this chapter.

* * *

The sooner they head off to Florem, the better, Tiz tells them. They can't continue to feed him mashed vegetables, it just isn't healthy in the long run, and while he can always throw the baby's laundry in with their own, they're running out of clean _diapers_.

That is not a pleasant thought to the rest of them.

So early in the morning, once the girls wake (Agnès waking in quite a panic until she heard Leon's happy noises from the next room), they pack up their bags and split his belongings between them to help even out the load.

"Why can't skystones just… fall from the sky?" Edea says, throwing her hands up into the air. At least now that the wind is back there's a pleasant breeze as they trek across the desert. The Miasma Woods is a black-green line on the far too distant horizon.

"Hmm," Ringabel muses, trudging along next to her. She shoots him a nasty look. He's a little too close and blocking some of that breeze, and his hair looks stupid good in the sun while her own is all messy and getting sweaty! "But then how would they float airships if they fall to the earth? Would that not defeat the purpose?"

"Oh, I don't know… magic? I mean, they're skystones!"

"I just don't believe it works that way."

The two of them continue to argue lightly. It passes the time.

Several meters behind them, Tiz and Agnès are walking in relative silence. They'd decided to all share the burden of the little baby on the walk to Florem, but he was currently wrapped up in a sort of sling against Tiz's chest, dozing.

Agnès watches as Tiz walks along, using a long stick for balance, his other hand cradling the sling gently. "Babies certainly do sleep a lot." She muses aloud. She then flushes, realizing he'd heard her.

He laughs. It's a wonderful sound, she thinks, and one she doesn't hear very often. "They do! I remember… when Til was born, I was so excited to be a big brother. But all he did for the first few months was sleep and cry and smell bad, when I wanted to play with him. I complained to my mother while she was holding him one day and she scolded me. She told me that I had… that I had my entire life to play with him, and…" Tiz cuts himself off, and she can see him swallow hard before he looks away from her, and down toward the baby, whom he touches with a hand.

Her eyes burn for a moment, and after a quiet moment of hesitation, moves closer to him so that the back of their hands touch. Her heart aches from the recent tragedy, but she can recognize the pain of others. And though she wishes to protect them, she can't ignore what she sees in front of her either.

Tiz lifts his head to give her a somewhat hesitant smile, his eyes bright and his nose red. She politely ignores both. " The breeze feels nice." He said.

She blooms with color and it is now her turn to look away. "Yes…" She has always been so close to the wind, and she had felt entirely wrong in her own skin without the wind surrounding her. Now that it has returned, things feel better, even if they will never be entirely right again. "It is the blessing of the Wind Crystal. I'm glad it's returned."

"And because of you, Agnès." He reminds her with a soft smile. "This is all because of you."

"Don't say things like that," she pleads. "I'm doing what I must. It is my duty as the Vestal. Any other would do the same." If they could. Her throat suddenly feels thick, and she looks away in shame.

"Agnès…" Tiz's voice is quiet, hesitant. "You do what you must, and we'll do the same. Okay?" He doesn't know what else to say. It's hard to tell her that things will be all right, when they will never truly be all right again.

After a moment, she looks up at him, forcing a smile. It's so hard to do so. "Very well. Thank you, Tiz." Though privately she knows, that even if she cannot shake Tiz off, being as he was her protector, she will allow Edea and Ringabel to continue to put themselves in danger for her. She has let it go on far too long, and there have been other things on her mind the past couple of days, caring for an infant, but she needs to act before it is too late. Truthfully, a part of her has been frightened at the idea of being attacked with a child in her care, but surely their enemy is not so depraved!

The Miasma Woods is a terrible place, dark and thick with the smell of poison ever present in the stagnant air. The wind has swept away the worst of it, but it still lingers, and Agnès's head feels dizzy.

She shudders to think of a young mother and infant crossing this place. Would the sick air affect a baby?

Tiz tucks the child closer to him, possibly thinking the same thing.

"Here," Ringabel says, and takes off of his Freelancer jacket, tucking it around the child in Tiz's arms. It acts as a barrier of sorts, even if not a very good one. "The sooner we get out of here, the better." He says, wrapping his arms around himself. Tiz offers him a grateful smile at the gesture.

"Aww, Ringabel! So you _can _be nice sometimes!" Edea praises him, and he shoots her a smile.

"I would offer you some cover as well, but I only have the one. I hope you don't mind. Perhaps once we return to Florem." He'd done it once before, he wouldn't mind doing it again, perhaps on a romantic date, if the weather were to turn rain, threatening to soak through Edea's clothes.. It wouldn't do to have Edea get a cold, after all.

She rolls her eyes. "Please. Who wants to see your scrawny arms more than they have to?" All the same, she takes a hold of one of his "scrawny" arms and begins to tug him down the path the others have cautiously begun to walk through.

Ringabel takes offense to this, whining as Edea drags him along. "They're not scrawny! They… they're toned!"

"Uh-huh," She mostly ignores him, letting go of him once they're close enough to Tiz and Agnès. He's a big boy, he doesn't need her to lead him (even if he might want it). But she doesn't want them to get too separated from the others. Not in an icky place like the Woods. It's just dangerous. And even more dangerous, she finds, is the amount of monsters that's attracted to the party. Maybe they smell the baby or hear his cries once he wakes up? Whatever it is, she's only glad they've gotten stronger since the first time they'd passed through the forest, and she can't begin to imagine how others might've passed through here.

They rest in a little crevice in the rocks, Ringabel and Edea keeping guard near the exit, using magic and arrows to shoot any suspicious shadows that come too close. It's the better of the two duties, Edea figures. She doesn't envy Agnès and Tiz their task of feeding, changing, and entertaining the baby until he goes back to sleep. Airy flits between the two pairs, torn between monster duty and baby duty, never staying in one place too long.

"Ringabel?" She asks after a while, desperate for some sort of noise aside from the noise of the leaves rustling and Leon screaming behind them.

"Yes, Edea." It seems he thinks the same thing, rhythmically tapping the edge of the staff he holds against the outcropping of rock he's lean against, humming slightly under his breath. It helps to drown out the screaming.

"Um… do you want kids?" She asks. She's pretty certain that after this little experience, she's not ever going to have children, but wonders about him. There's passages in his journal that reference the author wanting a family (along with a nice picture of her own family; it'd be cute if it weren't a little creepy, but Edea _had_ been an _adorable_ little girl, in her unbiased opinion. Sometimes she borrows the journal while he's asleep to look at her family in happier times), and she wonders if he holds the same views.

He grins at her. "Are you offering — Ow!" He yelps, when she smacks his uncovered arm with the edge of the bow she's using. Noticing the murderous look on her face, he quickly carries on, rubbing his arm. "Er, that is.. " He pauses, looking pensive. "Family… I think it sounds nice. Having a home. Belonging. Though I would want to be able to tell my children things about myself and my own childhood, so I'm hardly in a rush to start one." He grins again, and she readies the bow. Just in case. "Besides, I couldn't possibly settle down, not when there's so many women in the world to—" Laughing, he manages to block the next smack aimed at his arm with the staff. "To answer your question, I would like children some day. When I'm in my right mind to properly raise them."

The smile he gives her then is a little bittersweet, and makes her chest feel tight. She feels her face heat up, and scowls, turning away. She hates it when he makes her feel like this, like there's something to him beyond stupid comments and stupid hair.

It turns out that they have to camp out for the night, because Leon won't stop fussing, and the sunlight filtering in through the leaves begins to dim. The idea of traveling through the Woods in near total darkness, unable to really see where they're going is an unpleasant one, especially with the pools of poisoned water that litter the ground (even if they usually have some form of protection against it).

Ringabel uses his magic to light a pile of sticks and leaves on fire. "There's nothing we can do about it." He says, and settles down closer to the rest of them. The fire should keep the monsters at bay. None of the ones in the forest like it at all.

Leon hiccups from where he's curled up in Agnès's arms, finding comfort in the woman's form. Ringabel offers him a slight, understanding smile. "I don't like the poison much either."

Edea paces near the entrance of the crevice. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible. If we hadn't stopped, we'd be in the Florem fields by now!"

"Sorry," Tiz says, looking haggard. "I didn't think he'd be so… difficult." He fidgets slightly on his knees, his eyes glancing nervously between Agnès and Edea. Leon had been fussing so much, he's worried that the poison in the air is affecting him, barrier of Ringabel's jacket or not. Their systems are a lot more mature and more robust - a baby is more vulnerable to this. Not to mention they don't have a lot to feed him, and monster milk probably won't help at all. He moves a little closer, biting his lip.

Trusting the fire to do its job, Edea finally plops down on the ground beside the other girl and leans gently against her as she tucks her knees agianst her chest. "It's not your fault Tiz… it's not his either," She adds after a moment. She can't blame the baby for being a baby, and he wasn't the one who decided to drop him off on the Eschalot.

"We'll leave as soon as we're able." Agnès promises her, lifting a hand to pat Edea's arm. "We have no choice."

They truly didn't. It was dangerous enough to go through the Woods, doubly so with a baby after dark. They settle down for the night, pulling out cold emergency rations from their pack to chew on before dragging out their bedrolls and blankets. The girls get comfortable, dragging their bedrolls together with an extra blanket between so that the baby can rest between them, and the boys…

"I'll take first watch," Tiz volunteers, shooting Ringabel an apprehensive glance. Ringabel's smile is even, but inwardly, he feels the same sort of apprehension that Tiz showed. Night watch is a secret competition. Both of them had a tendency to let the other sleep in as much as possible, sometimes managing to stay up the entire night (rendering them little better than a zombie the next day) if the other man never woke (which was, admittedly, rare). It helped them sleep the next night when they were utterly exhausted, but only sometimes, and it could be dangerous. Considering that Tiz knows more about caring for children than the rest of them combined, Ringabel is not at all inclined to allow him to tire himself out if they needed him the next day.

Tiz must not want to sleep tonight, he thinks, going back to the previous night of their usual tossing and turning.

"That's quite alright," Ringabel answers coolly. "You've been busy all day. You must be tired." Tiz opens his mouth to protest, but Ringabel continues, turning to Agnès. "Agnès, my dear, you certainly do not mind if Tiz lies down nearby? He wants to be near Leon in case he acts up in the night."

"Ringabel!"

The Vestal very carefully ignores Tiz's outcry. "Oh no. It's fine." She too, is aware of Tiz's nightly habits due to the days when it had been just the two of them, and disapproves greatly. But it's very difficult to talk to him about, much less try to convince Tiz to change his mind once it is made up. "Tiz, you can come over and lie down, if you wish."

"I…"

"Ooh, Tiz! How bold of you!" Edea teases, propping herself up on an elbow, her other hand resting over Leon's torso as he squirms. She's not stupid, she's noticed the little sleep thing that both guys having going on, but has decided long ago it's not her place to pry. Let them tire themselves out. In her opinion, passive aggressiveness like that wasn't nearly as interesting as actual aggressiveness… why not just fight it out and tire themselves out that way?!

"No, it's not… I- I'm just…" Tiz is stuttering now, his face bright red, all the way up the tips of his ears. He stumbles when Ringabel shoves him toward the girls.

"You heard them Tiz. Best to just try and rest for now. I'll wake you up when I'm ready to sleep." Which is, of course, not going to happen tonight, and Ringabel bats his eyelashes innocently in response to Tiz's glare over his shoulder.

In the end, he has no intention of letting any of the other take watch. Agnès is not even an option, and Edea… he prefers to watch her sleep peacefully. He doesn't know why that habit started, exactly, but it's a secret of his. She still pulls watch in a pinch, however grudgingly, but things should be fine for tonight. And he wants Tiz to be relatively rested for tomorrow, to deal with Leon. Ringabel certainly doesn't want to do it. And though he's certain he'll be tired tomorrow, a cup or two of coffee should and he'll be as good as ever.

As the others settle down in the back of the crevice, Ringabel gets comfortable near the entrance, deciding to change to a Thief, just in case he needs to be fast. It's cold, but he draws one of the blankets over his knees and waits, picking up his journal to reread it,

Night watch truly is dreadfully boring, he thinks a few hours later, stifling a yawn as he stretches out. Tiz has finally gone still, and the girls are quiet as always. The silence is unnerving, not least because it gives him little to focus on but his own thoughts, which are rarely pleasant as much as he tries to force them to be.

This night however, is different.

He's gone back to rereading his journal for the second time, when he hears a quiet little noise. Fussiness. An unhappy baby. Of course, he'd almost forgotten. Closing the journal and rising to his feet, Ringabel moves as quietly as he can over to the group curled up together like baby kittens. And in the middle of that pile is the tiniest kitten of them all. Ringabel smiles involuntarily.

Leon is awake, his arms and hands throwing unhappy unhappily, his little bottom lip trembling. The last thing Ringabel wants him to do is begin crying, and possibly attract some unsavory monster or wake the others, so he leans over Agnès to pick the baby up in his hands.

He's so small and so very light. Ringabel as always feels like he's going to hurt him if he isn't careful; something so delicate feels so very wrong in his hands. A glance at Tiz confirms the other boy is well and truly out, his brow only just beginning to furrow, and he takes the baby back to his post instead, however foolish that may be, because it's better than letting him lay there and cry until he sleeps or disturbs the others.

"There, there…" Settling down against the rock again with the child against his chest, Ringabel tries to soothe him, but frankly, has no idea what he's doing. He'd seen plenty of mothers with their children in Caldisla and Ancheim, and while he had admired in the beauty in it, hadn't actually paid attention to what they were going. Still… how difficult could it to take care of a child?

Plenty, apparently.

Leon is a fussy, squirmy sort, even held against Ringabel's chest as he is, and while Ringabel had amused himself briefly with 'styling' the wisps of the baby's hair into something that resembles his own, the little boy huffs and whines and pouts, pressing his face into his caretaker's chest and getting drool and tears on the thin fabric of the scarf, messing said hairstyle up completely. 'Can't be helped', Ringabel thinks, bouncing him lightly with one hand, mindful of his neck. He doubts he can feed the child by himself, but improvises with a twist of fabric wetted in water to give him something to suckle on, which does seem to help, and the baby's whining noises quiet.

'That wasn't so hard,' he says inwardly, afraid any noise might wake the baby. Leon seems to have settled into a sleep, looking like a perfect little angel as though he hadn't been raising hell with his screams just hours ago. Ringabel envies his innocence, his peacefulness, and finds he can't quite bring himself to put the child back down, holding him instead closer against his chest as he drags his journal over his knees to begin rereading it. Leaned back as he is, gravity helps holds the baby in place, and his other hand is free to stroke the child's back and keep him pacified. Ringabel…. in a way, finds it just as soothing. This is a tiny little life in his hands, so small and fragile, and it trusts him enough to sleep against him. It sparks something inside of him, and he has to bite his lip. He doesn't know much, but he _does_ know he wants children one day, when he's regained his memory, and is (probably) much older, and this rekindles that want.

"Abandoned, eh…" He breathes, and his chest tightens. He feels sick every time he thinks about the circumstances that led the baby to them. Sick, and to his great surprise and shock, angry almost to the point of violence. He feels so strongly about it, and doesn't know why, but the tension in his limbs and jaw, the ache to punch something, is very real and has led to his distancing himself from this as much as possible, fearful that he he might actually hurt someone. Forced to face those fears and the little child inadvertently causing them… is exhausting. "We'll find her," he whispers to a baby who's sleeping deeply now. "I promise." Something inside of him tells him that he can't allow this to happen _again_, but he has no idea what the _first _time was.

His head hurts, and he closes his eyes after tossing another piece of driftwood onto the fire as the skies lighten. He'll just rest them for a few moments…

Tiz wakes up when a patch of sunlight hits him in the eye. Moaning a little and rolling over, he very nearly rolls into Agnès until he remembers where he is, and in a panic, rolls the other way. Vision still blurry with sleep, and his limbs stiff and painful from sleeping on the ground even with his bedroll, he can barely make out the figure curled up against the rock some feet away. He rubs his eyes, grumbling. While getting halfway decent sleep does feel nice, this means that Ringabel now owes him one. And what, did he fall asleep on watch or…?

He hesitates as his vision clears up. Ringabel is asleep, or at least doing a very good job of appearing to be, his journal on his lap and Leon against his chest. His eyes are closed and his breathing is deep and even… Tiz shakes his head. After all that fuss, and Ringabel can't even finish watch by himself.

A part of Tiz really wants to let the girls see this, because he knows Ringabel will never live it down. After a moment's uncertainty, pacing back and forth in front of the other two sleeping boys, he turns away to begin breakfast. Ringabel will probably need coffee.

Ringabel is woken soon enough by the soft giggles of Edea and Agnès as they sit very close, watching him and Leon sleep. He groans, and while the pleasant scent of coffee hits his nose, he wordlessly hands the child over to the Vestal, his face feeling hot, and rolls over to try and rest some more before they head out, pulling the hood of the costume over his head to hide it.


	5. Chapter 5

Florem is a changed city, but are there some things that might not have changed? Looking for answers is the more frustrating than caring for a baby.

(hints of Tiznes as usual)

* * *

It's well past noon the next day that they finally make it into Florem. Edea immediately beelines for the inn near the city gates.

"Where are you going?" Agnès calls after her. She tries not to raise her voice too much. It's her turn to hold the baby, and he's nestled in close, eyes wide and absorbing the neon lights around them. Peaceful, for once.

"To take a shower," Edea yells back over her shoulder. She'd held the baby for a few hours in the fields and he'd spit up on her. It hadn't been the most pleasant experience she'd ever had and she still feels disgusting. The worst part is that she can't even be mad at him; it wasn't his fault he hadn't taken well to the mashed potatoes Tiz had fed him. No, she's been glowering at Tiz since it happened.

Ringabel winks at Agnès as he passes her. "I'll go with." Upon seeing the incredulous look on the Vestal's face, he clarified. "Ah- One room for the two lovely ladies, one room for the men. Edea's likely to throw herself into the river before she pauses to book a room for Tiz and I, and isn't it easier if we're all close together?" With that said, he breaks into a jog to catch up with Edea.

That makes sense. He's right. Agnès watches the blondes take off, leaving her at the city gates with a grumpy baby and a tired Tiz. The Shepherd had insisted on taking her pack if she was carrying the baby, and though she'd tried to protest, Ringabel had done the same to Edea, who had accepted… it seemed only polite to allow him to take it when he was so persistent. Now he stands beside her, both packs off his shoulders as he stretches.

"Should we join them?" He asks.

"Hmm, perhaps." But then Edea is likely to be grumpy, and if she's taking a shower, she won't allow Ringabel to be anywhere near her, so they would be unable to talk about their next plan of action. But they could use a rest, maybe a nap... and before Agnès can reply, the baby in her arms makes a quiet noise.

"Let's go and find out more about him," she suggests instead.

The inn is still their first stop. Being the place where the majority of travelers stay during their visit to Florem, it stands to reason that the innkeeper or some of the workers there would recognize the baby. His items had come from Florem, but perhaps his mother hadn't?

"A baby?" The innkeep looks over her nose at them. Agnès holds onto the tiny child close against her chest, keeping hm safe. "No… I don't recall having a couple with a baby check in recently."

Tiz has gone to put their packs away into the rooms rented to them, and she feels a little lost without him by her side. "It may have only been a woman with a child. No husband."

The woman behind the counter shakes her head. "The only woman I've seen alone with a child is you. You're sure it's not yours?"

Agnès flushes, both out of embarrassment and anger. "Of course he isn't! I- I…." She's the Wind Vestal, and would never have children, and besides, why would she be asking if the baby was hers? She doesn't quite know what to say, but before she can stutter any further, Tiz takes her elbow.

"Thank you, ma'am." His voice is quiet but firm, and Agnès has known him long to know that he isn't happy. "I think that's enough." Gently, he pulls Agnès away from the counter and back toward the door.

"I don't understand," she says once they're outside. Now she's more aware than ever of the looks she's getting. "Women are meant to have children, aren't they? How could she have never seen a woman with child in this city?"

Tiz sighs, the tension leaving him. He hates getting angry. Now he glances at Agnès out of the corner of his eyes. "It's not really… I don't think it's that simple. Men are needed to have babies, too. It's probably not something that happens often." He doesn't want to elaborate, that's something that Ringabel can do if he desires.

… on second thought. Tiz continues.

"Well, you know... wouldn't that mean a woman from Florem's had a relationship with a man? They likely don't take kindly to that." It was the best way he could think of to describe it, and it still makes him flush a little.

"Oh…" She replies. He is right, after all. Pre-corruption, Florem had been a haven of chastity and humility, the women worshiping and caring for their bodies as they did the flowers and the fields. She had liked the peacefulness of it, far removed from the neon lights and loudness that it was today. She wasn't entirely ignorant of how babies were made, but had heard in hushed tones that sometimes Florem's numbers were added to by the children of residents instead of immigration.

She looks down at the innocent child in her arms, his eyes reflecting the pink neon light of the city. She has only known him a few days, but there's a certain maternal protectiveness that she feels as she watches him, his tiny hand clinging to the front of her dress. He's safe in the sling that's wrapped around her, but she lifts a hand to stroke her fingers through his downy blonde hair anyway.

Tiz swallows. It always stirs something inside her to see her being so sweet with the baby. He knows that Agnès, as a Crystal Vestal, will never have children, but she's so nice and motherly. She'll be a great Mother Vestal, he tells himself, raising her little Vestalings. "Maybe… the Matriarch knows?" He suggests, after a moment. It seems that if anyone will know about the happenings in the city, it should be her.

"Yes, let us go and see her." His suggestion is sound. Agnès doesn't know what else to do aside from questioning every woman or man that they see. She turns to head off in the direction that she remembers the Matriarch's home being, only for Tiz to grasp her hand and pull her gently the other way.

"It's over here," he corrects her, and his hand continues to hold hers as he leads her through the crowds.

Once she can actually see it, getting to the Matriarch's home is easy. One of the maidens gives Agnès a odd, appraising look before she slips in to announce the Vestal's arrival to the older woman.

"Forgive me, Matriarch, for returning so soon," Agnès starts she enters the space. "We had some pressing matters to attend to in the city."

She goes quiet, however, when she sees the expression of utter shock on the Matriarch's face. The woman has pressed a hand to her chest, her eyes wide and mouth agape as she stares at both the Vestal and her companion. Agnès can't help but feel annoyed, and behind her, she hears the noise of Tiz shifting from one foot to another.

"My goodness, Lady Vestal." The woman starts, swallowing. "I had heard you were toting around some child, but had thought them baseless rumours. When did you-."

"He is not mine," Agnès says quickly, hoping that she isn't being impolite by interrupting. "He was left in my care, and we are looking for his mother."

That seems to calm the matriarch down somewhat, though she still looks uneasy. "Looking for his mother? In Florem?"

"Yes, that is correct. We have reason to believe he's from here." She tries to explain the note they found, his belongings that carried Florem marks and material, but the Matriarch doesn't seem to hear her.

"Even corrupted, our girls wouldn't engage in relations with outsiders." The Matriarch insists suddenly. "Perhaps his parents brought him here from another city."

Agnès finds herself frowning. "I… suppose that is a possibility, yes." After all, there's more than one inn in the town, so they could have been missed, and any visiting parents would have had to buy things from shops in Florem. However, something still bothers her. "You have never had girls in Florem who bore children? Ever?" She doesn't wish to believe the Matriarch is lying.

"The girls here are still good, and chaste. They know better than to give into carnal desires." The Matriarch seems… firm on this. "I assure you, there's no woman here in the city who would be his mother. I'll have a few of my people ask at the inns for traces of his parents, or perhaps you can ask in Ancheim, my dear?" Tiz makes an unhappy noise behind Agnès, soft enough that only she hears it.

"That... yes, we could." She tries to look over her shoulder at Tiz for his opinion, but he's not in her range of vision. The child against her chest shifts uncomfortably, disturbed by the incense in the air and the stifling heat of the tent. Matriarch sits back down on her seat.

"Then I will take up no more of your time," The older woman insists. "No need to give me an update once you find his parents. Hopefully you won't be here in the city once you do. Even if you cannot locate his birth parents, I'm sure a happy couple in another town will be happy to have him." She smiles.

The point of coming back to Florem, through the Miasma Woods, was to locate his birth mother, not another couple who may take him in, Agnès wants to say, but her words die in her throat as she and Tiz are ushered out into the city. They look at each other, walking a bit away from the entrance of the home so that they have some relative privacy.

"Now what?" She asks.

Tiz takes a deep breath, his eyes resting on the fussing baby. "Most towns have mothers in them… I've never heard of any that didn't." Though to be fair, he hadn't heard of many towns aside from Norende and Caldisla until this journey started. "Maybe if we look at his belongings, we'll find some clue as to where his mother might've been before."

She nods. "That is all we can do."

The baby lets out a wail, and both of them jump. Carefully, Agnès slips him out of the sling and instead places him against her shoulder, letting him cling to her long hair. He likes that, and calms down when she pats his back.

"Then we should head back for Edea and Ringabel?" She asks him, following his lead back to the large steps and the lower level.

"Oh yeah," Tiz laughs. "If there's anyone who can find out what store his clothing might've come from, it's those two." She giggles, because he's right, but the rest of the trip back to the inn is silent. Tiz's hand is warm and gentle at the small of her back to keep her steady as she descends, since her arms are fully of baby, and she's so focused on keeping her balance that she doesn't notice the renewed stares the trio are getting.

Edea's hair is still wet, but she and Ringabel are lounging around on one of the beds in the room designated for the girls, his journal open in front of them. "Any luck?" The other girl asks, looking up. Ringabel takes the opportunity to take the pen out of her hand.

Agnès sets Leon down on the other bed and all but sinks down beside him. She's tired. "No…" She answers, despite her exhaustion. "The innkeep doesn't recall any children being here, and the Matriarch was…"

"She said there's no such thing as women birthing children in Florem." Tiz interjects, sitting on one of the chairs at the small table in the room. "She thinks we're better off going to Ancheim." His brow is still furrowed, teeth worrying at his bottom lip.

Edea lets out a loud noise of frustration, throwing her hands up and kicking off from the bed. "That's what I said!"

"She's lying," Ringabel cut Edea off with a frown. "Women do have children in Florem. Even before the current… shape it's found itself in."

The blonde turns on him, arms crossed ."And how do you know that?"

How does he know that, he wonders? He has no idea, but he knows it to be true, deep in his gut, or in the back of his head, the inaccessible place where his memories sleep. "I… just know that." He says uncertainly. "Florem has always had men visiting from other countries; now and then you have a woman who falls for a particularly charming one." His stomach suddenly feels quite heavy.

"If this is because you have some first hand experience, Ringabel, I swear…"

"No!" He says quickly, not least because Edea is already raising her fist, and he shifts out of her range. "I am more honorable than that, don't you think? But it stands to reason that considering how many women there are in Florem, one or two of them have had children. How do they keep the population up otherwise?"

They look to Agnès for the answer.

Her face goes red when she's put on the spot. "Oh… most of the women are immigrants. From Ancheim, or Eisenberg. Some women are older when they move, and bring along their young daughters to be raised here. But I do recall, hearing a very long time ago… that there were some followers born here, and raised to be devoted as though to make up for their mothers' failings."

The group falls silent, and Ringabel bites his bottom lip until he tastes blood. If Edea notices him wiping it away as he speaks, she says nothing. "I think we have our answer, then? I imagine that with the changes in Florem, more women may be… having children." Now that they were slowly and surely pulled away from Crystalism and their beliefs, and men like Fiore DeRosa roamed among them, he wouldn't be surprised.

"Why would she lie to me?" Agnès asks, upset.

"She didn't mean anything by it," Edea says, trying to reassure her. "I think she just didn't want the Vestal to think any worse of the city, considering how much it's drifted away from Crystalism, right?" The Matriarch was powerless, but so worried about the reputation and the ways of the city.

"I… think so," Tiz agrees. Besides, dwelling on why the Matriarch might have lied to Agnès won't do them any good, though he wonders the same question.

"Anyway," Ringabel says, his head beginning to truly ache. "Do we have any other leads?"

"Oh, right!" Tiz drops down to his knees to rummage through Agnès's pack. It's closest. "We were thinking, maybe we try to figure out where his things came from and see if the merchants there remember his mother buying them?"

"Oooh, that's a good idea! Retrace her steps!" Edea crosses the room to sit beside him. "Lemme see, I know all the shops in the city!"

Rolling his eyes with a gentle smile (because she does) Ringabel sits up and moves from one bed to the other, beside the Vestal and baby, his fingers wrapping gently around the child's clothed foot to tickle him. While Edea examines the child's clothing with her keen eye, he instead examines the brunette.

"There's no need to worry," he tells her quietly. However quiet he speaks, Tiz's ears perk up and he looks over at them for a moment before Edea takes his attention again. "We'll find the truth, whatever it is."

Agnès has been haunted by recent events, but she finds a light deep inside of herself so that she can smile at him. "I know we will. Thank you."

Between them, Leon gurgles and giggles, and as soon as Edea proclaims that she recognizes the tag sewn into one of his onsies, the four adults turn their attention instead to the baby, tickling and teasing him until they're all laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

Tiz has somehow, somewhere, procured a bottle of goat's milk.

"How do you even do that?" Edea asks, lounging on the bed next to Agnès, watching the Norende boy feed a very happy baby as he sits on the other bed in the room. "You just know what to do!"

He laughs a little nervously, but shrugs. "They take care of animals here. I figured they had to have both baby bottle and extra goat's milk. This is best for him, until his mother's found."

"Well… you can come babysit my kids anytime, you know that? Once I have them." Edea's not planning on having children in years, probably not until she was the age her parents were when they'd had her, but she'll be prepared when it happens, at least.

Ringabel laughs from his place at the table, his journal open in front of him. "I thought you weren't having children, Edea? You know, my offer is still there~." His laugh turns to a squawk of surprise when Edea throws a pillow at him from across the room and it hits the side of his head. Unprepared, he's too slow to do much but pick up the pillow as it falls to the ground and toss it back.

Agnès squeaks as well, startled by the sudden movement, and because the pillow Edea grabbed had been one she'd been leaning against, causing her to shift. She hadn't even noticed, as wrapped up in watching Tiz feed the baby as she was. It is such a peaceful sight, and it fills her with warmth. How a man can know what to do with a child that isn't his, she has no idea, but she's glad he's here. They would be lost without him in so many ways. She would be lost.

Ringabel's throw hits her in the side, knocking her slightly off balance more than she already was.

"Sorry, Agnès!" Edea says as the Vestal picks herself from the bed, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face, her eyes wide. Ringabel stutters out an apology, even when Edea throws the pillow back at him.

Looking at Agnes, Tiz turns red and he looks away again, down at the child who's making quick work of the milk provided. They'll probably have to buy more in the morning, but he doesn't mind. He smiles instead, ignoring the sounds of Edea and Ringabel arguing in the background, the pillow flying back and forth. Leon looks so happy and peaceful, and Tiz is just glad. The past couple of days have been hard on them all, but he can't imagine how they've been for this baby. Losing his family… being forced into the care of teenagers who, frankly, have no idea what they're doing. And starving to boot.

He looks up at Agnès right as Edea launches off the bed to throttle Ringabel. Shifting slightly so the blonds out his line of sight, he asks the Vestal. "Would you like to try? He's getting pretty full, but I think he's got room left."

Her face lights up, and he wishes he'd asked her sooner. She eagerly moves from one bed to the next, sliding next to him. "Yes, I would like that very much," She breathes, and while it takes some finagling to get the child over into her arms without taking the bottle from him, they manage. Tiz keeps his hands under Leon for a few moments to allow Agnès to get used to cradling in one arm, holding the bottle in the other.

She's a natural at it, he thinks with pride, supporting the baby's head carefully and tilting the bottle at the right angle. The baby seems to think so too, looking up at her with adoring eyes and both Tiz and Leon watch as a smile blooms across her face.

He's so absorbed in watching her as she feeds Leon that he doesn't notice the sounds of Ringabel and Edea fighting have faded away into nothing until his ears burn with the silence and he looks up, eyes wide. As he suspected, they're watching him and Agnès, Edea hanging off of Ringabel's neck with her arms, with matching grins on their faces. Ringabel's eyebrows waggle at him and Tiz flushes and pulls his hands out from Leon's body (and out of _Agnès's lap_), instead twisting and standing up.

He knows his face is red but he faces his companions anyway as he shifts nervously from one foot to the other. Agnès is still preoccupied with feeding the baby, and the blondes are still giving him those embarrassingly knowing smiles. He clears his throat.

"Uh, I was thinking that once he was fed, we could start looking at the stores Edea identified? Try to find out what we can as soon as possible." They have Crystals to awaken, and can't spend days on this. It's already getting somewhat late, but a few places should still be open until sunset.

Edea straightens with one last shove to Ringabel's already disheveled hair. "Yeah, we should! And maybe we can get some shopping in, too."

"Edea…"

"I mean for the little guy!" Edea says hurriedly. She'd meant for them too, but also for him! "His clothes are kinda… don't you think they're a little old? They're getting small."

"Babies do grow fast." Tiz says, and his eyes once again drop to the child in Agnès's arms. They grew fast especially when well-fed, but Edea has a point. Leon's clothes are well maintained, but they look more suited for a newborn than a baby a couple of months older. It makes him wonder about how stable Leon's mother's financial situation had been.

"Should we take him us?" Ringabel asks.

"Of course!" Agnès says.

Tiz nods. "She's right. You can't just leave babies by themselves. Something could happen." Til had fallen off the bed at one point, he remembers, when Tiz had distracted their mother by coming in with a bloody knee, wailing at the top of his lungs. The memory makes him smile a little.

"I… know that." Ringabel tries to save face. "What I meant was, perhaps we should split up? Florem may not take well to the Vestal or a bunch of teenagers carrying around an infant." And what would the ladies think?

Edea seems to know what she's thinking, and she rolls her eyes. "The ladies aren't going to notice you enough to judge you. Besides, don't we _want_ people to see him? Maybe it'll help us find his mother! She might see us."

The others nod, Ringabel with some reluctance. That wasn't quite what he meant.

Airy, who had been strangely quiet while most of this had been going on, finally speaks up with a huff. "Well I'm staying here! Someone has to watch our supplies while you all go wandering around the city." Not to mention they've been ignoring her! She's not at all happy to help.

Agnès offers the fairy a smile smile. "Forgive me, Airy. We did not mean to make you feel as though we were leaving you out. If you're okay with staying behind, that would be marvelous." Ringabel's fingers drum on the table.

"It's settled then!" Edea throws herself back onto the empty bed, so as to not jostle Agnès or Leon. "And can we get food for us, too? Please?"

Leon's still chugging down his milk, though there's only a tiny amount left. Tiz still has some of the goat's milk left in the inn's cool storage, but he makes a mental note to buy more, just in case… and he supposes he'll have to spend his money on treats for Edea, too.

"Yeah, why not?" Tiz smiles at her, and she grins back at him.

"Tiz, you're the best."

He flushes. Even if she doesn't really mean it, compliments are hard to swallow. "Anyway," he continues on, uncertain of what to do except act. "Let's go as soon as he's done."

As if on cue, Agnès pulls the empty bottle away from Leon as he sucks on air. "He's all finished." She beams proudly.

"Alright!" The Eternian rolls herself off the bed and stretches. "First stop, lunch! I think Ringabel should pay."

"A gentleman is always willing to treat his companions." Ringabel smiles evenly at her, fixing his hair. "Though if you were so desperate for my favor, you need but ask."

"We'll leave you with Airy if you keep saying odd things."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Both Ringabel and Airy ask at the same time. Ignoring that, the blond man stands and brushes himself off.

"Can't be helped. Tiz?"

"We're coming, if you want to wait outside." Tiz says, reaching down to pluck Leon out of Agnès's arms. He speaks to the Vestal now. "When you feed babies, you have to burp them. It gets the air out."

"Burp?" She watches, wide eyes transfixed on him as he supports the infant against his shoulder. Neither of them notice the blondes slipping out with smiles on their faces.

"Yeah, otherwise the air in his system will make him uncomfortable." Leaning his cheek carefully against the child's hair, Tiz pats him on the back gently, and then a little more firmly. It doesn't take very long before the baby lets out a burp, and Agnès giggles. While he'd been doing that, she's retrieved the sling they made, and is waiting for their charge to be waiting.

Tiz smiles at her as he helps her tuck the satisfied baby into the sling. Hopefully, a full tummy and the warmth of the Vestal will help him fall asleep. It'll be easier to eat and walk around the city if he's not fussy. For a child in his situation, Leon is remarkably calm, snuggling against Agnes.

"Let's go," she says once the child is ready.

He nods and though his hands linger on her arms, he turns away to lead her out the doorway, where Ringabel and Edea are waiting for them.


	7. Chapter 7

After they have a quick lunch, Ringabel's wallet left hurting, they quickly head out to the shopping district. The crowds are, as usual, full of laughter and cheer, men and women, women and women, walking and chatting together. It's a little crowded for Tiz's liking, and he stays close to the others as Edea plows through the throng of people cheerfully.

Its… weird. Hanging back as he is, Tiz catches the looks on the faces of the people they pass. The laughter and cheer turns to shock and discomfort when they catch sight of the small child in Agnès's arms, and they remain staring at her even after they pass, watching them walk. He hears a few of them begin to whisper right before they get out of ear shot. It's rude to stare, he thinks, chewing on his lip. She's holding a baby, not a monster!

He breaks into a jog to catch with them once he realizes he's fallen behind in order to watch the crowd, after one particularly made up tart calls Agnès a word that makes his normally mild blood boil.

"Are we there yet?" He asks Edea, hovering behind Agnès's shoulder.

"Ah? Yeah, almost? They're a little out of the ways."

The shopping district is appropriately nicknamed the Ruby Rose. While there are stores in the main square, they are geared to the weary traveler; a quick stop after a trek through the Florem Fields, a square meal, reliable and useful items. Rose is more along the lines of extravagance. Tiz finds his head spinning with the sheer size of the it, slightly dizzy. He can't even see all of the buildings, row after row of stairs, stretching up and down hills and pathways. Canals run through and under the streets, coming from a giant fountain in the middle, nearly three times as big as the one in the entrance square.

Agnès could get so lost here, he thinks, and reaches for her hand. She clutches it tightly. She can feel the judgmental gazes on her, and cannot help but to withdraw into herself, tucking her chin down. Though they may not recognize her as the Vestal, she feels horribly scrutinized all the same,

Tiz falls into step on one side, and Ringabel quietly slips onto her other. Though he keeps his hands to himself, and Agnès is supporting the child's weight with her free hand and thus cannot touch his, their shoulders touch every now and then and it's appreciated. She feels protected, even more so when Edea slows down and hangs back, helping to keep her out of view

The store that the blonde finally stops at is … trendy, Tiz supposes. It's full of bright lights, lots of white space, mannequins here and there. There's a lot of girl's clothing; frilly dresses and blouses. He hangs back near the entrance with Ringabel while the girls walk toward the back where the counters and the clerks are. Agnès hovers quietly behind Edea. She's never gone shopping here before, and the Eternian is a lot better at conversing with people about clothing than she is. She'll defer to the other girls' expertise in this field.

"Hi!" Edea says cheerfully, recognizing one of the clerks. The clerk recognizes her too, and smiles.

"Hello, Miss… Lee? Are you here to empty our inventory again?"

Edea laughs nervously. "Unless there's a sale, we're just looking today." At noticing Agnès's blank stare, she corrects herself. "Oh, I mean! We're looking for some clues."

"Clues?'' The clerk glances at Agnès this time, who has somewhat blended into the surroundings, as plain as she is. The other woman's eyes then drop down to the baby nestled in his sling. "Oh…"

"Do you recognize him?" Edea asks, feeling a spark of hope.

The clerk is a professional, but is not quite unable to mask the discomfort on her face. "I… can't say that I do? Is he one of yours?"

"No." Both girls say in unison, and Edea digs out the onsie from her bag, flipping it inside out so she can display the tag and hold it out to the clerk. "This is one of your tags, isn't it? Don't you guys sell these?"

The clerk leans over to look, as though she were looking at a particularly interesting bug. "That's our tag, but we don't sell baby clothes. Our girl dresses start at age 3 and go up… Did you buy that here?" Her eyebrows raise.

"No…" Edea feels a little more unsure now. It's true, she's seen their tiny collection of small girl clothing, for the women who had brought their daughters with them with they immigrated. But she's never seen anything for infants. "Maybe a special order? You guys do that!"

The clerk shrugs. "I can look, but if you're not the purchaser, we can't give you any details on it. It's store policy, sorry… client confidentiality." Still, she heads back behind the counter and pulls out a book, tucking a strand of dyed hair behind her ears as she looks back a few pages.

Edea leans against the counter, sighing. "You'd think they would have girl clothes for all ages." She says to Agnès.

Still skimming through the book for the past few months worth of orders, the clerk hears her, and pipes up. "Baby clothes don't sell, you know? No one gives birth in Florem. You might find the odd traveler once or twice a year, on some romantic getaway with their spouse who gives birth unexpectedly, but there's tailors and specialty stops who'll make a few outfits for that. New parents eat it up."

"Can you give us their names?"

The woman finishes going through their inventory list and looks up at Edea. "I know a few but… you should be careful if you're going to poke around asking about baby clothes for a baby. People might get the wrong idea." Still, she writes down a few names and hands them over.

"And what idea is that?" Edea asks. She crosses her arms, frowning.

There's a pause before the other woman replies. "Women just don't give birth in Florem. And I don't see any special orders for any baby boy clothes here. You should go and take the child with you; we really don't have anything to offer. Sorry." She's trying to be polite, but Edea can detect the annoyance in her voice.

With a huff, Edea shakes her head and herds Agnès away from the counter and back toward the door. No use in arguing… she'll just get angry and as much as she hates this place right now, it's not the store's fault that Florem is _weird_. Upon catching sight of the two boys waiting for them, she stops. "Hey," she says. "Put that dress back, we're not buying anything from _here_." The last word is punctuated with a glance over her shoulder to where she knows the clerk is still within hearing range.

Unfortunately, the clerk doesn't rise to the bait and waves them away with a smile as they head off.

The next few shops aren't any help either. When asked about a special order for baby clothes, they dodge the question or deny any and all orders. Their best lead is an older tailor who says she hasn't made clothes for infants in months, not since a nice couple from Ancheim had twins on their honeymoon. That's cute, but not helpful.

"Mrgrgr!" Edea finally shouts at the last shop, slamming her hands palm down onto the tailor's counter. Ringabel reaches gently around her to wrap his hand around her wrist, smiling apologetically at the startled woman behind the counter. "So you've not made a single article of infant's clothes at all? How is that possible?!"

"There's no market for it." The tailor replies, eyeing her warily. "Who would make clothes for an infant boy?"

Ringabel's head aches horribly, but he asks the question he's been wondering for some time. "Where do you buy your material?"

"Huh?" The tailor and his companions look at him, confused.

"You may not have made his clothes, but someone did. Where. Do you buy your material?" Leon's clothes are nicely made, but they're a soft fabric that seems to be well-suited for infants or young children. It has to come from somewhere.

"Oh, um… " The tailor glances over toward her supervisor, who nods. Anything to get them out. "We import a lot of ours directly from the Caldis region, but there's some fabric stores around here that sell that… kind of fabric." She waves a hand dismissively.

"Any information you can provide would be wonderful, my dear. You're a great help." Ringabel winks at her and she smiles at him, which means he almost doesn't mind when Edea elbows him in the side and stalks away, leaving him to collect information from the tailor so they can leave.

"Ugh, how can you do things like that?" Edea asks him once he rejoins the group outside again..

"Hmm? Do you have a problem with my method of obtaining information? Jealous, perhaps?" He grins at her and she scowls.

"I have literally nothing to be jealous of. Did you actually obtain anything?"

He examines the piece of paper given to him. "Yes. They gave me the location of a fabric store that is the only one still selling fabric for children and young animals."

Edea takes it from him, and glances over to Tiz and Agnès, who have been quiet the past few hours. Tiz is shifting from foot to foot, glancing around the crowd around them, while Agnès has withdrawn, discouraged and discomforted by the looks she and the baby have been receiving.

Squaring her shoulders, Edea asks. "You guys wanna go now? Or we could head back for the evening?"

Agnès shakes her head. "Let us continue on. There's nothing to be gained from putting it off any further." She's been unnerved by the stare she's receiving, but that's all the more reason to find Leon's mother as soon as possible. When they can be reunited, Agnès can use it as proof that women do have children in Florem, and should receive all the help that they can get, instead of being treated as if they do not - or should not - exist.

"If you're sure… the next place isn't so far, so let's go."

The next place is more like a warehouse than an actual store, and the woman attending the counter greets them with a wave.

"Welcome, what can I do for you?" She asks.

"We're looking for baby fabric." Edea says, taking over again. Ringabel leans nearby, in case he's needed, and while Agnès stands behind Edea, shielding the child in her arms from view, Tiz catches sight of something and wanders off.

"Huh? You mean like, soft fabric for babies? There's not a lot of that here right now."

"But you do have some!" Edea asks, eyes widening.

"Well, yeah, sure. Like, it can be used for baby animals too, you know? Soft wools and cottons, all babies are the same. You lookin' for something?"

Ringabel catches Tiz pick up a bolt of fabric out of the corner of his eye and looks over. The Norende boy is fingering the fabric between his fingers, brow furrowed.

"We're looking for something like… this?" Edea asks, holding out the onsie. The clerk takes it in her hand, turning it over to examine for any tags or markings.

"I know we used to carry this blend, but we ran outta stock a few months ago, sorry." She smiles apologetically as she hands it back over and sighs. "You know, we got a lot of wool and woolen fabric from Norende. Ever since it just like, _vanished_, our supply's taken a hit. It really well, sucks."

They all go quiet at that, unable to look at Tiz. The shepherd however, pulls over the bolt of fabric as if he hadn't heard the comments.

"This is from Norende, isn't it, Miss?" He asks, as though he hasn't heard her previous comments.

"Ah, yeah! You gotta good eye. One of the last shipments we got." She smiles at him. "How much you want?"

Tiz flushes and looks away toward the others, who nods. "... two yards," He says after a moment.

"It's kinda expensive, supply and demand, you know. But if you're really sure…" They lean back and watch as spreads the fabric out on her table. It's a nice one, clean and pale and thick. Edea wonders if Tiz raised the sheep whose wool went into it.

"Did you have anyone ever come in and order a lot of baby fabric?" Edea asks as the woman measures the fabric out for Tiz.

"Mmm. Not any more than usual, I'd say. We get a lot of orders in spring and fall, when the animal caretakers need some for their upcoming babies."

"Did you ever have a woman come in and order for a child, though?" Ringabel tries to clarify.

She doesn't answer immediately, busy with cutting out the fabric and folding it.

"Uh, I usually don't ask people why they're ordering fabric, you know? Like who does that?" Unless it was fun patterns, there was no reason to know why a woman or group of women would be ordering lots of fleece and cotton blends. Right? "Why you askin' about baby stuff anyway? You know women don't give birth in Florem."

Edea grits her teeth. If she hears that _phrase __one more time_… she stands aside, dragging Agnès forward. The Vestal stumbles, her hands wrapped around the baby held against her chest.

The clerk's eyebrows raise. "Oh, you looking for something for her?"

"H- he's a boy. His name is Leon," Agnès corrects her, flushing. "But no, we're not. We are seeking clues to his mother's identity." Behind her, Edea's eyes narrow as she watches.

"Boy baby! Huh. Why would you think his mother would shop here?"

"At this point," Ringabel interjects. "We have no other leads. She didn't leave any personal information aside from his name, and we have no idea where his belongings are from, aside from Florem. Can't you help us find this child's mother?"

The clerk looks at them, her eyes flicking between each of them in turn and the baby. "Wait, you mean this kid was abandoned or something?" She frowns. "I dunno how much I can help… why don't you take him to another city?"

"He was born here, I'm certain of it." Ringabel says. "Despite the insistence that children aren't born in Florem, surely it happens now and then. It has to."

She shrugs. "My sister left Florem and moved to Grandship with her beau. They had kids there, not here." She's quiet for a moment though, watching the baby. He's not asleep, but he's calm, eyes staring up into nothingness from where he's curled up in Agnès's arms. She sighs. "He reminds me of my nephew when he was that age. I can't believe his mom would just leave him."

They wait. Edea opens her mouth to say something but Ringabel shushes her quickly. Right now, all they have to do is wait for her maternal - familial - instincts to kick in and…

The clerk bends down to rummage under the giant counter. "I recognize the colour of that fabric in his baby blanket. It was a Limited Edition and we sold our only stock fairly quickly."

Finally, a lead! Agnès smiles for the first time that evening. "Do you still have the information on who ordered it?"

"Yeah, here!" The clerk pulls out her book and thumbs back until she finds what she's looking for. "Let's see…" She runs down the list of names. "Caretaker, caretaker, caretaker… here. There was one person who bought the fabric that wasn't an animal caretaker that I know of. Maybe… maybe she bought it for him?" She shrugs, smiling a little awkwardly, but writes down the name and address on the invoice and hands it to them along with the fold of fabric.

"Hope you find his mom!" She waves as they pay for Tiz's purchase and leave. "Good luck, you know?"

Ringabel can't help but blow a kiss to her, thrilled that they finally have some sort of solid information to go off of. The clerk giggles and returns it, flushing.

Edea drags him away. "Come on, come on! Let's go hunt down this mysterious woman. And no hitting on her," She warns him beforehand.

Now why would he do that? Discomfort churns in his stomach for a moment before he forces it away. "What does the note say?"

"Breanne." Edea reads off. "And her address is below." She hands the note over to Agnès, who looks at it briefly before shaking her head.

"I… am not very familiar with Florem's streets." She flushes. "And I wouldn't wish to get lost." They all have a chuckle at that, because Agnès leading them to where she thought the women lived would likely lead them right out of town. Agnès gives the note to Tiz, who immediately passes it over to Ringabel.

"Sorry, but I don't know anything about Florem." The shepherd explains. He'd explored a bit of the area surrounding the main square, on nights when he had problem sleeping, but hadn't gone too deep into the city.

Ringabel takes the note then. "I don't believe there's anything in my journal about this, you know." He jokes. But when he reads the note, something clicks in his head. "Ah… I believe I know where this is." He doesn't know exactly how. Perhaps he saw the street while out on one of his dates? But he knows where it is, somewhat. "It's …. a bit away."

Edea grabs his arm and drags him along. "Well, come on. Show us! Maybe we can reunite them tonight!"

His head beginning to ache _badly_, Ringabel stumbles before he pulls his arm out of her grip. "Excuse me, but shouldn't I be the leading the way?" He forces a smile and turns a different direction before she can say anything. Tiz and Agnès exchange a glance while Edea stands there in some shock before they all follow him.

Florem has never seemed so big, Edea thinks as they follow Ringabel into the city. They pass through a residential district, modest homes dotting the streets. They seem like communal homes, which makes sense, she supposes. When there's really no families, but loads and loads of women, they might as well live together. It would make things less lonely, like living in dorms. Edea hasn't done that since she was still a cadet, but the feeling of closeness had been nice.

Instead of stopping there or turning into one of the side streets, Ringabel walks straight through. The streets get smaller, the houses closer together. Everything gets darker. Trash litters the side of the streets, along with something that makes her stomach churn. There's no one else out on the streets but she can't help but shake the feeling that they're being watched. Tracked.

Feeling a chill run up her spine, she breaks into a jog to catch up with him. He's walking rather heavily, his back stiff, ignoring the rest of them as he leads them through the city streets. If she didn't know him so well, she'd say that this was _creepy_. As it was, it was just unnerving.

"Hey," she says, stepping in front of him, her hand at his arm. He stops, his eyes falling on her. For an instant she feels very small in front of him, aware of how much taller and bigger he is. She's never felt intimidated by him before. "You sure you're going the right way?"

"Yes." He says in a clipped tone. Then he sighs and his eyes slip shut for a moment while he rakes a hand through the back of his hair. "Yes, yes I'm sure. I'm not familiar with the address, but the street's nearby."

"But this is…"

"The slums? Yes."

"I… was not aware that Florem had slums," Agnès says timidly as she and Tiz catch up with them. She looks nervous, her arms tucking tightly around the baby. She knew Florem had changed, but changed to the extent that it had _slums_? What had happened?

His head is aching so badly, it feels like it's about to split open. Ringabel turns down into a dim alley, mostly so that he can lean against the wall. "They've been here a while," he explains, the words tumbling out of his mouth before even he registers them. "A while. Hidden from sight, a shameful secret. Much like the babies that born here." He laughs derisively, anything to stop the pain. With a low noise, he presses his fingers into his temples, sweat beading on his forehead.

Edea's hands are blessedly cool on his face when she appears in his vision, frowning as she leans in close to examine him. "Hey... you okay?" She asks. He's aware that Tiz and Agnès are crowding around him as well and feels a moment of panic, claustrophobia, and presses further into the wall.

"My head. It's… it's…" He closes his eyes right as his vision begins to swim, Edea multiplying and then fading as darkness overtakes him.

"Hey, Ringabel… hey!" Edea shouts in alarm as he slumps. She's just strong enough to support him as he loses consciousness, going limp in her arms. Tiz wraps his arms around the older boy's waist, and together they lower him safely to the dirty ground, Edea sitting so that they can place his head on her lap. As long as he stays out, it's fine, but she looks up at Tiz with wide eyes.

"Now what?"


	8. Chapter 8

Edea runs her hand gently over Ringabel's hair and face. Being unconscious doesn't seem to have any affect on his headache; his brow is still furrowed even though he's out, and she makes sure to be especially gentle as she sees tears begin to prick at the corner of his eyes. He's gotten plenty of headaches before, but she's never seen him just pass out like this. It's terrifying and she hopes he's okay. He's weird, but he's her friend, and he's in pain right now. It's simply not acceptable.

Agnès kneels beside her, Leon no longer in the sling she was carrying. Edea glances up and sees Tiz holding him now, the other boy's face solemn and concerned.

"Let me try," Agnès says, and her hands light up with a white glow. The lines in Ringabel's face soften as the White Magic takes hold on him, and he sighs, though does not wake up. They're all quiet as Agnès heals him, again and again. Finally, the Vestal shakes her head. "More than magic, he needs rest."

"What do we do?" Edea asks as Tiz kneels beside them. "I don't think any of us can carry him all the way to the Inn." Ringabel was the largest and the heaviest of them and the Inn was a good ways away. Working together, she and Tiz could likely manage it, but it would take forever.

"I'll stay with him," Agnès says, and she cradles the older man's head in her hands. "Maybe with White Magic he'll come to more quickly." Edea moves out of the way so that Agnès can take her place, supporting Ringabel's head on her legs. "The two of you should try to find Leon's mother."

"We can't leave you here by yourself," Tiz argues. Not in the slums.

The Vestal shakes her head. "It is because we are here that you should go, and quickly. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can leave." Her hands run gently over Ringabel's hair.

"Tiz," Edea urges. "He said it wasn't too far. You have a better direction sense than all of us. Maybe by the time we come back, Ringabel will be awake again." She kneels to pull the slip of the paper with the address on it out of the blond's pants pocket.

Still, he hesitates. "What if someone comes across you two?"

Agnès smiles. "I am not defenseless." She isn't, after all. She has her magic, and she's learned enough physical skills over their journey that will assist if she needs them as well. She's confident she can protect not only herself, but the man still lying prone.

The sky rumbles overhead. They glance up, but they've been out for so long that the sun is on its way down, and they can only just see the clouds covering the moon.

"Tiz," Agnès says again.

He looks over at Edea and nods. "Alright… we'll go and try to find this place. Once he wakes up, head to the inn… if we don't see you here, that's where we'll go to, okay?" The girls nod, understanding. "And if something happens…" He didn't want to think about what might happen to Agnès if he wasn't there to protect her.

It's Edea who touches his shoulder."Nothing's going to happen." She promises, but he can see the worry in her eyes. "If we hurry up, we'll get back before he even wakes up."

In his arms, the baby stirs and whines, disturbed by the thunder above as it cracks again. He doesn't want to leave her, but there's very few other options right now. Carefully clapping a hand down on the Vestal's shoulder, he squeezes her. "We'll be back soon," He promises.

She's smiling as he and Edea turn to leave, Tiz notices, and dread forms in the pit of his stomach. They continue down the alley and turn left, and the glow of Agnès's White Magic stays behind.

White Magic is only a bandaid, and not a very effective one. Whatever ails Ringabel is psychological in nature, and unaffected by her magic. All she can do is take the edge off of it. She knows this, and yet she continues to cast Cure again and again, hoping to make him feel better. Like the others, she had been frightened when he had suddenly collapsed. He was strange, and made her angry sometimes, but right now he was a person in need and she can't ignore that.

He stirs after a few moments, his pale eyes cracking open. She is aware of the tears that fall down his cheeks, but says nothing.

"What…" He tries, and grimaces.

She casts Cure again. "You collapsed. Tiz and Edea have taken the baby and are looking for his mother's home." She explains, and he sighs, settling his face against her lap. She tenses for a moment before she realizes there's no ulterior motives behind it, that he is simply trying to stabilize himself again.

"Forgive me." Ringabel manages to grit out, and she offers a gentle to hand to support him as he tries to sit up, his hand dragging through his hair. "I didn't mean…" She shushes him with a finger, noticing that he was still sweating. This wasn't his fault, it really wasn't. She may not be his biggest fan, but she knew the man was broken inside and could not hold _that_ against him. His unacceptable comments and infuriating attitude were a different story.

"Do not apologize," She assures him.

Still, he looks sheepish as he sits up, draping his arms over his knees and lowering his head for a moment. "You used magic?" He asks.

"Just a little." To help.

"I can tell." Ringabel explains. "The headache is still there, but it's shifted. Not as sharp." Still painful, though. He closes his eyes. It's definitely helped, and he knows he can't afford to waste any time here. Not when Tiz and Edea might need their help. Not when they're in the slums of Florem. His stomach churns when he thinks about it again and his head throbs. He's certain he's never been to this part of Florem before, he'd never take a lady here on a date, but there's something about the dirty walls and small streets that seems familiar. He wishes that he knew why, and why it hurts him so badly. He's no use to anyone if he's like this. But there's no point on dwelling on it now. He peers at Vestal, hardly able to see her in the dim lamplight. "You said Tiz and Edea have the baby?"

She nods. "They're going to find the address on the invoice and come back. Do you wish to wait for them or head to the inn?"

"We'll join them." He decides instead, but when he stands, he sways. Agnès gently knocks him into the wall so he can use that for support (she has no illusions about her ability (or lack thereof) to support him herself).

"You are in no position to walk." She says firmly, hands on her hips. "I may not be very strong, but I will drag you back to the inn bodily if need be. Stop pushing yourself."

"I could say the same," He mumbles, but his words are drowned out by the sound of thunder overhead. He glances up at the sky. "Is it…"

Before his sentence finishes, he feels drops of rain on his face, followed by more, and then a *torrent* as the sky opens up above them. The Water Crystal had been shrouded in Darkness too long. Ringabel stands there in some shock as he's quickly soaked through, his numerous styling products melting with the wet, causing his hair to cling to his face.

Agnès seems just as surprised, and they stare at each other blankly.

The cool water helps immensely, though. He closes his eyes and tilts his face up into the rain, smiling. "I hope they've found the house before this hit." He says, his words barely audible above the sound of rain.

"I hope so," Agnès wraps her arms around herself as a chill sets in, and while she's looking down the alleyway toward where Tiz and Edea had left, she doesn't notice Ringabel taking off his jacket and wrapping it around her.

"Come on," He says gently when she looks up at him in surprise. "We've got to get you out of the rain before you catch a cold."

She can look after herself! She wants to say, but the words die in her throat as he tugs her further down the alley, his hand gentle around his wrist. She does not need to be coddled, nor cared for. She's a grown woman, she is the Vestal, and if she cannot handle a little water, how can she possibly handle-

Ringabel yelps and stops in his tracks, Agnès plowing into him.

"Oh!" A young woman's voice says, and Agnès peers around the man to see a girl standing at the exit to the alley, a worn and tattered umbrella keeping her just barely dry, "Sorry, I didn't see you… um, I disturbing something?"

"Not at all, my lady. I hope we haven't kept you from anything important." Ringabel pretends as if his headache never happened and turns on the charm, smiling warmly at her. She flushes, visible even in the darkness. Agnès fidgets behind him.

"No, no. I'm just headin' home." She paws uncertainly at her umbrella handle, before catching sight of the woman behind him. "Oh… you… you're the Vestal of Wind!"

Agnès is somewhat shocked that someone can recognize her, as wet as she is. "I am indeed Agnès Oblige."

Is it her imagination or has the woman's face turned white? She looks shocked, almost frightened. Surely those living in a former Crystalist nation, even as corrupt as it is, would not believe the stories that the Duchy of Eternia had spread about her?

"But what are you doing here?" The girls asks. "I thought-"

She's cut off by a clap of thunder overhead, and they all cringe. "Excuse me, ladies." Ringabel interjects. "Perhaps we should continue our conversation once we've found some shelter." The rain only falls harder around them.

"I… I live nearby," The girl babbles, and she reaches out with a hand as though to grab his arm. Instead, she turns and gestures. "Follow me!"

Desperate to get out of the rain, Ringabel does as she says, his hand once again wrapping about the Vestal's wrist to pull her along. She gets so lost so easily, and the streets of Florem's slums are confusing enough to those who live there, let alone an outsider. Ringabel follows the young woman as she winds a path through the alleys and streets, getting wetter by the moment. Finally, she steps outside of an old house, little more than a metal shack. "It's… nothing special." She tells them, and knocks twice before opening it.

"Auntie. I've got visitors." The girl calls into the house. It's a modest dwelling, very modest, Ringabel notes as she ushers him and Agnès inside. There appear to be only two rooms, one that functions as a living area, kitchen, and entry way all in one, as well as a bedroom that's cordoned off with nothing but a small, ripped sheet. An older blonde woman is standing at the old stove, poking at something that makes Ringabel's stomach growl.

"It's about time," The woman grumbles. "It's getting late." She finishes what she' doing before she turns around, right as Ringabel and Agnès attempt not to drip all over the dirty cement floor. She gasps when she sees him.

He doesn't look that bad, does he? Ringabel rummages around in his pack for a spare hair clip.

"Another man?" The older woman is yelling now, and it doesn't help his head. He flinches. "Absolutely not! Get him out of here. I thought you learned your lesson, you stupid girl!"

"N-no, it's not like that! He's with the Vestal." The girl tries to defend herself, or them, he isn't certain. But she's put away her umbrella and is taking off her outer layers. Lucky her is still dry and warm on the inside.

"That girl? The Vestal?" The woman peers closely at Agnès. Agnès does not shrink away, but pushes her wet hair out of her face and bows.

"I am Agnès Oblige, Vestal of Wind." When she straightens, her face is set and solid, disapproving, yet polite.

"I recognize you." The woman says, and glances between the two wet travelers. "But what would the Vestal be doing, travelling with a man of all things?"

"Consider me something of a bodyguard to her, milady." Ringabel interjects, planning to put a stop to this. Women of all ages were interesting to him, but it's their attitudes that he cares about the most. Those who look down on others, male or female, drew his ire. "Certainly, a woman such as yourself can see the wisdom of the Vestal being protected in these times?" He bows, smiling.

The woman huffs, obviously not affected by his charm. A hard sell. Still, she turns back to her cooking, grumbling. "I don't see why she can't have women at her side… men are useless. Just don't make a mess."

"Our female companion is away at the moment." Ringabel explains further. "We were intending to meet up with her when we were caught in the rain." No need to mention Tiz, he thinks, and apologizes mentally to the shepherd.

The girl, who had been dancing nervously as her aunt judged them, sprints away into the other room and returns with towels. "Here," She says, handing them one a piece. "We don't have much, but you can stay until the storm blows over. Right, Auntie?"

The woman doesn't turn from the stove "That's fine, Bree. But if he breaks anything…"

The girl laughs nervously. "He'll be good." She addresses Ringabel now. "Um, right?."

"I shall be on my very best behaviour." He smiles again, though it's somewhat forced. "Your name is Bree?"

"Oh, yes. It's good to meet to meet you." She flushes and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. It had been dyed at one point with that toxin disguised as a beauty product, but her blonde roots have since grown out, leaving only the tips of her hair a sickly green.

"You may call me Ringabel," He introduces himself as he tries to dry himself off. "And you know Agnès." As if in reponse, she hands him his jacket back.

"Oh yes," The girl breathes, and her face turns even more red when she clasps her hands together. "You're the Vestal. I… I watched you at the Sacred Flower Festival. Your words were so inspiring. I was so saddened to hear about-"

"Thank you," Agnès interrupts her, still squeezing water out of her long hair. "I am… thank you." She doesn't wish to be reminded of those recent, tragic events.

They all fall silent, the only noise the bubbling of the stove and the sound of the older woman's spoon scrapping against the metal pot.

"Um… if I may, Lady Vestal. What were you doing out there?" Bree is a little awkward, her hands fisting in the simple pink shirt she wore.

"My companions and I had some urgent errands to attend to." Agnès explains. Children are such a sore subject in Florem that she doesn't think she should bring Leon up, not to two women she doesn't know. "We were going to meet them when the rain started."

"I… thought you had left some days ago." The girl says, and Ringabel catches a hint of something in the tone of her voice. Disappointment?

"We… returned." Agnès feels awkward explaining herself. "On urgent business."

Auntie finishes up cooking at the stove. "I don't have enough for all of us," The woman says gruffly, but she pulls down three worn plates. "Is this alright with you, boy?" The implication is clear.

Ringabel is a gentleman, and doesn't wish to impose on her any more than he already has. "Of course, milady." Beside, he's fine. The idea of food is a little nauseating.

"Oh, no." Agnès tries to protest at least, while the woman ladles out what appears to be a type of curry onto the plates. "I will be fine, you needn't-"

"Nonsense." Auntie's tone is still gruff, but more pleasant as she address Agnès. "You are the Vestal. It would be bad manners if we didn't feed you." She eyes the young woman. "Looks like you need it."

Agnès opens to her mouth to protest because no, she really isn't *starving*, it's simply that she's always on her feet and walking from foot from one continent to the other, but Ringabel nudges her gently toward the table. "Go on," He tells her. "I'll wait here. We can't leave until this rain lets up, and you've had a long day."

So it's settled. Agnès sits gingerly, still wet, at one of the chair surrounding the small table while Auntie places the dishes down.

"Bree?" The older woman asks, looking up at her niece. "Aren't you going to eat?"

Bree hasn't moved from where she'd been speaking with Agnès and Ringabel moments ago, her arms wrapped around herself. Ringabel thinks she looks rather pale, but when he moves to touch her arm, concerned, she pulls away from him and smiles up at him, instead.

He can tell when a smile is forced.

"I'm a little cold from the rain," Bree tells her aunt, and rubs her arms. "I'll eat in a little while, but continue on without me. It… it's fine if it gets cold." She practically flees the room, ducking through the sheet that separates the two areas. Ringabel and Agnès exchange a glance as Auntie clucks her tongue.

"That child, honestly." But she leaves the plate where it is.

"Is she well?" Ringabel asks, as he leans against the door. He's still very wet, after all.

"Bree? What do you care?" The woman, despite her harsh words earlier, now seems rather… defensive.

"I am a lover of all women," Ringabel says cheerfully. "Should any woman find herself in a dark mood, I will gladly take her into my arms and -"

"Ringabel, please." Agnès interrupts him.

Auntie scoffs. "You men are all the same. Charming little devils. You fancy yourself a lover of women? Don't make me laugh. Florem should never have allowed men to visit the city as openly as they have now. All it's done is destroy its beauty and the beauty of the girls within. You're no different."

Her hatred is so thick that it shocks both Ringabel and Agnès, and for a moment, Ringabel doesn't know what to say. On one hand, he takes quite a bit of offense at being compared to such men, like men like DeRosa. On the other hand, he wonders what on earth could cause such an attitude. All the other women he's met in Florem have found him charming, adorable, rakish even!

"I…"

"Take that girl." The woman jabs her fork at the hanging sheet. "She dallies around with a man and gets herself into trouble. Runs away from home and then comes crawling back just a few days ago as though nothing ever happened. He left her, apparently." She rolls her eyes.

"I…" Ringabel's chest begins to hurt.

"Forgive me, Auntie." Agnès interjects. "However, my companion, as much as he can inappropriate, repulsive, and difficult to bear, cares about women as people. I feel comfortable in his presence, and know that he would protect any woman as he does me."

She stands, having taken only a few bites of the curry given to her.

"It seems as though the rain has stopped. Ringabel?"

He'd been shocked into silence at her vehement defense (though she did have to say all of that), but starts at the sound of his name. She's right; the loud patter of raindrops on the metal roof have faded, and he peeks out one of the dirty windows by the door. It's difficult to see outside, given the lack of light, but it seems clear.

"Yes, we should be fine."

He has a feeling that he knows a shortcut back to the main square, at least.

"Then we shall not trouble you any longer, ma'am." Agnès finds the courage inside of her to spea up in the defense of others, especially those who are innocent (in this case, at least). Still, she politely bows.

"Lady Vestal…" The woman starts.

"Goodnight. Thank you very kindly for the shelter and the food, but we must find our companions now. If you ever in need of anything, please do not hesitate to ask."

Ringabel holds the door open for her as she passes quickly, giving Auntie a bow of his own as she stands, before he sweeps out after the Vestal.

Of course, Agnès doesn't know where to walk, and so he leads the way once more, weaving quietly between the buildings. As soon as the slums are left behind them, he speaks.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I had to." She shakes her head behind him. "I may not always agree with you, but I know that you are a kinder man than most. To compare you to those who would exploit and use women is just unacceptable." She too, had been thinking of DeRosa… she had been made uncomfortable by Ringabel at the beginning of their journey, but DeRosa truly frightened her. Ringabel was a much better person, and getting better by the day. Most days.

"Thank you, then." He smiles at her over her shoulder. "But are you sure you're not hungry? We can stop somewhere if you'd like."

"No." She says, as they pass into the main districts. "I would like to return to the inn and wait for Tiz and Edea." She feels a need for them now. This day has been long and very lonely. She's tired.

"We'll be there soon." He reaches back to grab her wrist as they finally enter an area with crowds beginning to cautiously mingle during the break in the clouds above so that she doesn't get separated. Despite herself, she smiles.


End file.
